Football coach Aaron Feis sacrificed his life to save students during the Florida school shooting

Thursday morning update: Aaron Feis passed away overnight on Wednesday, according to the football program.

It is with Great sadness that our Football Family has learned about the death of Aaron Feis. He was our Assistant Football Coach and security guard. He selflessly shielded students from the shooter when he was shot. He died a hero and he will forever be in our hearts and memories pic.twitter.com/O181FvuHl3

“Big ol’ teddy bear,” Douglas has coach Willie May told the said of Feis, South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “Hardcore — he coached hard. Real good line. He did a great job with the [offensive] line. He took pride with working with those guys. Loyalty — I trusted him. He had my back. He worked hard. Just a good man. Loved his family. Loved his brother — just an excellent family man.”

“He’s a hero and always will be,” former Douglas player Sammy Bromberg told the Huffington Post. “My biggest mentor in high school got me through everything.”

Aaron Feis was 37 years old.

Aaron Feis was an American hero.

Seventeen people were killed at a Florida high school on Wednesday, the deadliest school shooting in America since the Sandy Hook massacre in December of 2012. If not for a football coach, the number may be higher.

According to reports from the scene, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School assistant coach Aaron Feis jumped in front of students to protect them from the 19-year-old shooter.

Authorities have not confirmed the account, and eyewitness reports in tragedies such as these are typically dodgy.

Feis also works as a security guard at Douglas, a school of around 3,000 students in southeast Florida. He is a 1999 graduate of the school.

National columnist - Zach joined the staff in 2012...and has been attempting to improve Doug and Scott's writing ability ever since (to little avail). Outside of football season, you can find him watching the San Antonio Spurs reading Game of Thrones fan theories.